Thursday, December 16, 2021
Update
Great job for Nations League
DFB team caught the hardest possible group
The Nations League has so far not been a success story for the German national soccer team. Now UEFA has drawn the groups for the third edition of the continental competition. The DFB-Elf will meet the European champions, the second EM finalists and their own EM preliminary round opponents.
During the countdown to the World Cup in Qatar, Hansi Flick can look forward to extremely attractive opponents and a hot EM revenge. The German national soccer team will face European champions Italy, EM finalists England and Hungary in the Nations League next year. That was the result of the draw at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon. The third edition of the once unpopular UEFA competition begins with four international matches from June 2 to 14, 2022. Almost three weeks after the Bundesliga final, the national coach can then put his World Cup candidates through an intensive test run with a competitive nature.
After his seven-win start record in the Nations League, Flick wants to use the encounters “to continue playing us in”. There is also no need to “hide” from well-known opponents. His team could “improve” against stronger teams. The 56-year-old wants to lead the DFB flagship, which has got off course, back to the top of the world. “We want to go back to the best,” he demanded in the end, “because that’s where we belong.” But the way is long and arduous.
The other two games in Group 3 of the A-League will take place between September 22nd and 27th, just two months before the World Cup kick-off. It will be the last international matches before the nomination of the tournament squad for the finals from November 21 to December 18 in the emirate on the Persian Gulf.
Nations League so far no success story for DFB team
The exact Nations League schedule is still being lashed out by UEFA. The competition will definitely become a European Championship deja vu. England (0: 2) was the last stop in the last sixteen at this summer’s tournament, Hungary (2: 2) in the group stage almost stumbling block. Germany won their last competitive game against Italy in the quarter-finals on penalties in 2016.
The international season begins for the DFB-Elf with two test games, one of them on March 26th in Sinsheim probably against an African opponent and a few days later away with Spain or the Netherlands as options already mentioned by Flick.
The Nations League winner will be chosen from among the four group winners on June 18, 2023. So far, the DFB selection in the competition has not been successful. In 2018, as the bottom of the group, relegation to the B-League was only avoided through a reform of the UEFA mode. In 2020 there was the historic 0: 6 in Spain.